Arabic web accessibility guidelines: Understanding and use by web developers in Kuwait
Muhammad Saleem · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018) · doi:10.1145/3192714.3196315
Summary
This extended abstract describes a doctoral research project aimed at developing and implementing Arabic-language web accessibility resources for developers, web content managers, and designers in Kuwait and the broader Middle East. The paper highlights a significant gap: while web accessibility research has been extensive in Europe and North America, very little work has addressed the Middle East region. Prior research by the same author found little evidence of actual accessible web design in any Kuwaiti sites analysed, and no e-government websites of Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, or Qatar met even the minimum requirements of WCAG 2.0. The author identifies several interrelated barriers to web accessibility adoption in the region. First, there is a lack of awareness and knowledge about web accessibility among developers and designers due to language barriers — most accessibility resources, guidelines, and examples are available only in English. Second, the existing Arabic draft translation of WCAG 2.0 covers only the main criteria without providing the detailed examples and explanations that developers need to understand and implement each requirement. Third, Arabic PDF documents present specific problems for screen reader users: converting Arabic documents from Word to PDF introduces encoding errors that create hidden characters, causing screen readers to malfunction. Fourth, many Arabic websites fail to properly declare their language in the HTML, causing screen readers to attempt to read Arabic content using English pronunciation rules. The research proposes to create comprehensive Arabic accessibility guidelines with detailed examples and practical implementation guidance that developers in the Middle East can use directly.
Key findings
The paper identifies the core problem as a vicious cycle: Arabic-speaking developers lack accessibility knowledge because resources are not available in their language, which perpetuates the creation of inaccessible Arabic websites, which in turn means there are few Arabic examples of good accessibility practice to learn from. The specific technical challenges identified include: Arabic PDF encoding errors that are invisible to sighted users but render documents unusable for screen readers; the absence of lang attributes on Arabic web pages, which forces screen readers into incorrect pronunciation modes; and the right-to-left text direction of Arabic, which requires specific attention in web development but is not well-covered in predominantly English-centric accessibility guidance. The research methodology involves three planned phases: (1) evaluating the current state of web accessibility in Kuwaiti websites, (2) developing comprehensive Arabic accessibility guidelines with examples, and (3) testing whether providing these resources improves the accessibility of websites created by Kuwaiti developers. The paper notes that the Arabic draft version of WCAG 2.0 is insufficient because it only covers main criteria without the detailed explanatory notes, techniques, and examples that make WCAG actionable for practitioners.
Relevance
This paper draws attention to an important equity issue in global web accessibility: the resources, guidelines, and training materials needed to implement accessibility are overwhelmingly available in English, creating a significant barrier for the estimated 420 million Arabic speakers worldwide. For the global accessibility community, this highlights that WCAG compliance cannot be achieved solely through translating success criteria — the supporting documentation, techniques, examples, and training materials must also be localised. The specific technical issues raised (Arabic PDF encoding, language declaration, RTL layout) point to areas where accessibility tools and testing methodologies may need adaptation for non-Latin scripts. For organisations operating in the Gulf region, the finding that no e-government website in Kuwait, UAE, or Qatar met minimum WCAG 2.0 requirements suggests a systemic capacity gap rather than individual negligence. As a 2-page extended abstract describing planned doctoral research, this paper is a research proposal rather than a completed study, but the problem it identifies — the language gap in accessibility knowledge transfer — remains highly relevant and applies beyond Arabic to many other languages with limited accessibility resources.
Tags: web accessibility · Arabic · Kuwait · Middle East · WCAG · global accessibility · language barriers · PDF accessibility · screen readers · right-to-left
Standards referenced: WCAG 2.0